Nine Lives, Hero
by Hadesbaby413
Summary: After finding a litter of stray kittens, he decides to take them in and save them from starvation and disease. The only problem is Hades, who becomes more anti social than ever. Will Hades ever open up to his son, and tell him why the kittens bother him, or will he push himself farther away? How will Nico handle his new responsibility? (First Fanfic, hope you enjoy!)
1. Cries in the Night

(A/N) This is my first fan fiction, so I hope you enjoy! The chapter will be relatively short, at least five hundred a chapter, I am, however, planning on writing longer chapters in the future. Be sure to leave a review and add this to a favorite if you really liked it.

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On nights like this Nico walked around the streets of New York. It became a routine to wander the streets and alleys during rain storms. He found the rain to be relaxing and beautiful, especially when the wind howls and moans and blows so hard that you have to lean at a seventy-five degree angle just to keep yourself from being pushed down by the force. The boy particularly enjoyed nights like this because he could laugh at pedestrians when their umbrellas fly out of their hands and dance in the air while they desperately tried to protect themselves from the weather; no one would give Nico dirty looks as he laughed in the darkness behind a corner. He never saw the point in carrying around an umbrella, to him it was too much of a hassle. Instead the boy wore a heavy trench coat, which kept most of him dry, besides his head and the front of his body (unless he had the coat buttoned up).

So there he was, walking along the side walk in the middle of a rain storm at one in the morning. As he passed a florescent street lamp, he heard a small cry coming from an ally a few feet a head of him. He took a few steps toward it, and paused, and looked in to the darkness. There it was again, another small cry. At first he thought he was hearing things, but now he was sure that something was in there. The boy walked cautiously into the ally, his slender, pale hand resting n the hilt of his sword. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he saw a mutilated creature lying in the middle of an ally. Then he saw where the cries were coming from. Thunder roared and boomed and a bolt of lightening struck the Empire State Building, a monstrous crackle followed a second after. The cries began to turn in to shrills and screams of terror; the small, fuzzy animals nuzzled against the cadaver, shaking. The son of Hades found a litter kittens trying to cuddle their deceased mother for warmth, some were even sucking on her breasts to get milk to no avail. The sight broke Nico's heart in to a million shards.

Quickly making up his mind, Nico began gathering up the orphans and held them to his chest. Of course they scratched and bite him, resisting as much as their brittle bodies could manage, but the struggles were useless. Nico knew that if he left them here they would surely die from fever and starvation, and if he took them to a shelter they would only put the kittens to sleep if they were not adopted fast enough, and in the state the kittens were in, they would surely not get adopted soon enough. Hopefully his father would understand and show some compassion. . .

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So that wraps up the first chapter. what will happen to the kittens, how will Hades feel about letting strays into his house? Find out in the next chapter.


	2. I Can See Through Your Lies

Author's note: So it's been a while since I updated, had to deal with school, but now that it's summer break I will be posting regularly. Wooh!

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"Where do you think you're going?" Hades asked, without looking up from a thick book. Though Hades was used to Nico's routines and sleeping habits, he didn't appreciate it when his son returned home soaked to the bones. Well, maybe "home" isn't the right word to use in this situation. Hades knew that Nico didn't feel one-hundred percent accepted here, even though the Underworld is the safest place for a child of Hades. To Nico, this was probably just another hell-hole that he'll never consider a "home." With Persephone constantly nagging at the boy, and Hades being a bit neglectful (as an introvert, he didn't like confrontation with family, but cares much for his son, so it's hard on him to express his feelings), his son spent most of his time alone, wandering around in this discorded world. He did try to bond with his son by talking, but it always made Hades feel awkward and in the end he just grunts and storms off to his room to brood.

Nico, uncomfortably, coughs. "I was just going to my room to, um, change in to different clothes." It was obvious to the god that the boy was lying. Nico coughed a few more times, but it wasn't because he was coming down with a fever. Hades stared at his son, he noticed that the boy's arms were crossed and that his jacket was bulging above his arms. Also, every time the boy coughed, Hades could faintly hear a soft (several, actually) "mew." The god sighed. Did his son truly believe that smuggling animals in to his kingdom would go unnoticed? True, their lives were small and weak, so the occasional insect would manage to find its way down here, but brining a few mammals in to the palace was a completely different story.

"What are you hiding?" Hades asked in an agitated voice.

Nico squirmed, looking anywhere but his father. After taking sudden interest in his shoes, he stuttered, "N- nothing. . ."

Getting tired of this game, the god stood up from a rather comfortable looking couch, and strode over to his son. Towering over the nervous boy, he asked again, but this time in a harsher tone. Without waiting for a response Hades demanded that Nico were to uncross his arms and put them by his sides. With a sad, defeated look in his eyes, Nico obeyed. Little to Hades surprise, the boy's jacket was hiding six kittens in the inside pockets. The small creatures were all whining more than before, each and everyone of them was covered in fleas. With a blank face, the immortal turned away from his son and the kittens and without a word, walked away. Confused, Nico closed his jacket and rushed to his room, in the opposite direction as his father.

It wasn't unusual for his dad to storm off during a conversation (it wasn't quite a conversation, but it wasn't quite an argument), but not like this. Nico was expecting him to yell at him for taking in strays, or forcing him to discard the young ones. The boy was even expecting his father to punish him for it, not that Nico was complaining. His behavior was more stranger than usual, usually he'd get angry when the boy did something like this. Maybe the god is planning on doing something much worse than shouting or grounding the boy. . . the idea made Nico's stomach turn. Shaking his head, the boy took the softest blanket from his bed and made a nest for the kittens on the floor. Now was not the time to be worried about whether or not his father will punish him him. Nico needed to get some food in the kitten's stomachs, and fast. After drying off the orphan's and putting them in the nest, the boy rushed down to the kitchen to warm up a saucer of milk and honey for the kittens. Nico had the feeling that the little ones were going to need a lot more than milk and honey to satisfy their hunger, he made a mental note to find someone to help him take care of the litter.

In the blanket, the kittens were all fast asleep, though some of them still cried in their sleep. Their dreams turned into nightmares as they recalled their mother being torn apart by a large, black beast.

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Okay, so this was a bit longer than the previous chapter. I'm going to make every chapter a bit longer than the last. I hope you enjoyed what you read, please leave a review, it really helps. See you next time!


	3. A Memory of Meows

Sorry for the long wait, I lost the journal that I was drafting the story in, but here it is! I hope you like flash backs, because this chapter is taking place in the early 1900's. Hope you enjoy~

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 _It was a warm summer night in Italy, the orange street lights above the god flickered every so often. He was staring at an abandoned lot where was suppose to be a famous restaurant. Surely he was not lost, for it was not that long ago that he had first visited the place. Getting aggravated, Hades took a few steps closer to the building's windows and peered inside. White sheets covered furniture and a few rats scuttled in front of the window, one of the smaller ones was carrying a small chunk of food. This wasn't the place he visited a week ago. Scowling, he remembered how lively it was: the smell of rich food drifting out of the front door, drawing in townies who only meant to walk past the restaurant; upbeat music and singing from a musician group who was trying to get noticed, and how the waiters never kept anyone waiting for their food or drinks. This could not be the same place as his beloved restaurant._

 _A strange noise from the side of the building snapped Hades out of his thoughts. He turned his head and heard a small cry- several in fact. Though he wasn't curious enough (or cared enough) to investigate the ally where the cries were coming from, he did, however, wait to see if anything would come out on the main street. A minute passed by and nothing happened. Another minute passed by and a few more bangs and shuffling were just barely audible for him to hear. After a few moments he heard a voice. It was a fairly young and gentle voice, one you would hear from a small delicate girl. It was a little more than a whisper, but Hades heard every word of it._

 _"Hush now, sweetie, I'll find you a home. . . No more living on the street for you . . . Yes, yes, you can have some food to you, it's for all of you darlings. . ." Hades, more intrigued than ever, crept towards the entrance of the ally, and say a young girl, no older than sixteen, holding a stray kitten to her breast while the rest of the litter was eating out of a can of tuna. Surely this girl wasn't living on the street as these kittens were, though her dark, long hair was bushy and tangled, her clothes said that she came from a wealthy family. On her right was a cardboard box with a torn blanket in it and a few more cans of tuna. The strange girl brought the kitten up to eye level and smiled. "_ _I'll make sure you are all cared for."_

 _Hades, taking his chance to walk back to the side of the street light, quietly thought to himself. He had never seen a mortal girl (one coming from wealth, no less) risk her life to pick up strays cats from the streets. The girl was no taller than five feet, and she obviously wasn't strong; a pretty thing like her roaming the streets alone at midnight was an open invitatio to any man who didn't care for her consent. The more he thought about it, the more he suspected that she was mad. Possibly her parents didn't care what happened to her as long as their image wasn't at stake? It wasn't odd for a nice person to come from an abusive family. But no matter how many times Hades tried to imagine what was going on in the girl's life or what she was thinking, he could never shake the feeling that he was wrong about her. What Hades failed to understand, was that this girl gave even strangers the benefit of the doubt. She was either a very caring, and loving girl, or a very stupid one. Without noticing, the young girl walked out of the ally, with the box of kittens in her arms, and stopped to stare at him._

 _"It's been out of business for twenty years," she spoke a little above a whisper. Though Hades heard every word, he had no idea what she was talking about. He looked in her eyes, (oh, how they shined brighter than the stars above!) and tried to remember where he was. The small Italian saw that he looked lost, and shifted the box to her side and pointed to the abandoned building with her left hand. "The owner died."_

 _Realizing that he was staring, Hades looked back to the building. He had completely forgot why he was here in the first place; he was too intrigued with an odd girl. Slowly, he began to remember that he was looking for a restaurant that he loved . . . that has been closed for twenty years. He felt as thought that it was only yesterday that he had last came here, but a day for an immortal could be years for a mortal. Returning his attention to the girl, he saw that she moved the box of kittens to where she was holding it with both hands. "Oh," Hades said clearly. It looked like she was ready to leave, but the god wanted her to stay. He took his chance to keep the conversation going by asking what she was doing out this late._

 _She looked at the kittens, and spoke," No one ever helps hurt and helpless animals, no one ever bothers feeding them scraps or taking them to a vet . . . but I do." Her eyes glistened and a smile spread across her flawless face. When she looked back up at the tall man, her smiled widened even more._

 _Surely your parents don't appreciate you going out at night and picking up strays?" Hades asked. He didn't know why, but he wanted to smile as well. The girl looked down, taking a sudden interest in her black shoes._

 _"When I was little, and my family was walking to the Cathedral, I saw a large dog, but something about it wasn't quite right. Its eyes were pitch black and its fangs were longer than any other dogs I've ever seen. . . It was eating something, something alive. At first I thought I was just seeing things, but the longer I stared, the more horrifying it became. It looked like a monster, or a demon, or something unholy. . . But no one believed me. The priest said the Devil was trying to trick me, and my parents said that I was only imagining it. But I knew." For a while they both remained quiet, until she spoke up again, "So every night I sneak out and rescue the stray animals and find them good homes and hope that that demon leaves this town because his food source is declining."_

 _So she could see though the mist? The god was even more fascinated than ever before, but before he could ask her what her name was, she was already walking around the corner and out of sight . . ._

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That's it for this chapter, the next one will also be a flashback, yay flashbacks! I hope you enjoyed what you read, please leave a comment, and I will get the new chapter up as quick as I can. Bye~


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